On the eve of the fifth (and final) season of the HBO series “The Wire,” Mark Bowden profiles creator David Simon, The Angriest Man In Television.
As The Wire unveiled its fourth season in 2006, Jacob Weisberg of Slate, in a much-cited column, called it “the best TV show ever broadcast in America.” The New York Times, in an editorial (not a review, mind you) called the show Dickensian.
Season five begins Sunday.
Note: Bowden’s profile is admiring but not friendly toward Simon.
NewMexiKen thinks The Wire is so good — and I haven’t even completed watching the first season on DVD yet — that I have acquired all four seasons on disk and — AND — am seriously considering satellite TV after a two year lapse from cable — just to get HBO just to get this show.
Wow, that’s quite a recommendation, based on which I’m adding The Wire to my Netflix queue. I haven’t seen you blog this much about a TV show since the long-ago days of Deadwood…
The Wire is, I believe, quite a bit better than Deadwood. But be advised, as the critics note, a season of The Wire isn’t 12 or 13 short stories strung together (like, for example a season of Law and Order). The Wire is more like 12-13 chapters in a novel. You need to start at the beginning and take them in sequence to understand and appreciate what’s happening. (This is gleaned from my own still limited experience, what people have told me and what I’ve read.)
The Slate article linked to above suggests using the closed captioning at first to learn the Baltimore dialect. I haven’t resorted to that yet, but I have watched every episode at least twice.
The Wire is my favorite show on television now. Period. It may even be my favorite TV show of all time. My dad got me hooked on it after he watched The Corner, an HBO miniseries by the same David Simon.
I agree with you, Ken, when you say you have to watch every episode (or “chapter”) otherwise things won’t make sense. And don’t worry, you will get an answer to every question, there are no loose ends. They may not always be the answers you enjoy or wished to happen, but they are all utterly realistic.
If only HBO were in my budget for these next few months, I would be able to sit down and watch The Wire for the next next three months of Sundays… alas, I must wait to see the final episode of the great TV show.
I finished Season 1 (a colleague loaned it to me) over three days before I left D.C. last week. It seems so incredibly authentic, and it really sucked me in.
I don’t think I can pull off an HBO order for the fifth season, and I might do some watching at a friend’s place this weekend. But like Ken I’m considering it, for this one show.